Buying a house with tenants to live in yourself? Check these dates first

The listing says "ideal for owner-occupiers". The tenant has a lease until next year.

Buying the house doesn't end the lease. You can't count on vacant keys at settlement just because the ad sounded hopeful. Ask for the tenancy agreement before signing.

Ask the agent for the current lease, any extensions or changes, and any notices already served. Hand them to your solicitor before signing.

In Queensland, an existing tenancy generally carries on when the property changes hands. A fixed-term tenant can't just be told to leave early because the home sold.

For a rolling, or periodic, lease sold with vacant possession required, the property manager or owner must give at least 2 months' notice after the sale contract is signed. Your solicitor should check the notice, service and end date for this tenancy.

A lease end date isn't the same as a guaranteed handover date. Ask who has to arrange lawful vacant possession, and what the contract says if it isn't available.

Don't rely on "the tenant's happy to move". If you've signed a contract of sale, raise any mismatch with your solicitor straight away.

An existing tenancy does not automatically rule out the 5% Deposit Scheme. You must move in within six months of settlement. You still need the participating lender to accept the property and application, and a lawful way to obtain possession in time.

A longer settlement can sometimes make a tenanted home workable. You might settle close to the lawful tenancy end date, or after the seller delivers vacant possession. For an existing home, the scheme’s six-month move-in clock runs from loan settlement, not the day you sign the sale contract. Moving settlement changes that starting date; it does not shorten the tenant’s lease.

The seller must agree. Have your solicitor write the dates and any conditions into the contract. Before committing, ask the lender whether approval, valuation, loan offer and scheme arrangements will still be valid, or need updating. A long settlement is not a promise that today’s rate or approval will last. Budget for your own housing while you wait.

Ask your solicitor whether the purchase should require the seller to provide lawful vacant possession, and what happens if that cannot be delivered on time. A sale-contract condition binds the buyer and seller; it does not remove the tenant’s rights. Leave time for the correct notice and actual handover instead of matching settlement to an optimistic lease-end date.

The property manager can ask whether the tenant wants to leave earlier. If both parties agree, they can put the end date and any compensation in writing. Have the arrangement properly documented and signed. The tenant can decline; do not rely on an informal assurance or pressure them to give up the lease.

If the tenancy cannot fit your owner-occupier plan, compare a property you can move into sooner with an honestly disclosed investment-loan option outside the scheme. Check the deposit, pricing, repayments and duty-concession consequences again. The 5% Deposit Scheme is not an investment-loan workaround. A later move-in or product switch does not automatically restore a guarantee or concession.

That needs a property-specific answer. Send the lease and proposed move-in date before relying on pre-approval. If the lender needs evidence of an earlier vacancy, your solicitor must check there is a lawful basis for it. A letter cannot cancel a fixed-term lease. If investment finance is required initially, ask what evidence and assessment a later owner-occupier switch needs; do not assume it is automatic or cost-free.

For an existing home under the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, you must move in within 6 months of loan settlement, then meet the ongoing owner-occupancy rules. Check the tenancy with the participating lender before committing.

Our 5% deposit scheme guide covers the finance side. Other low-deposit home loan options don't automatically solve tenancy or concession timing either.

For Queensland's transfer-duty home concession, existing tenants must leave at lease expiry or within 6 months of settlement, whichever comes first. You must also move in with your belongings and live there daily within 1 year of settlement.

Eligible first home buyers can use this concession too. Moving in on time is only the first step: QRO also applies rules during the first year after you move in.

During that year, renting out the whole home or giving someone exclusive possession of it can cost you the concession. Selling or transferring all or part of the property can also mean repaying some of the concession.

Renting a room is different. A residential arrangement starting on or after 10 September 2024 can qualify if you've moved in and continue living in the home for 1 year after moving in. Special rules and exceptions can apply, including for specified foreign retirees. Ask your solicitor to check QRO's disposal rules before changing the ownership or renting any part out.

Meeting one date isn't enough. Have your solicitor confirm all of them. Scheme eligibility doesn't override a tenant's rights.

Give the lender the lease and your intended move-in date. Ask whether the tenancy affects the loan purpose, pricing, documents or how rent is assessed. Don't describe it as owner-occupied from day one if it'll still be rented at settlement.

If you need the rent to make the numbers work, ask how repayments are assessed once it stops. That is the budget you'll live with after moving in. We can check it alongside your first home buyer loan before formal approval.

NAB and ANZ offer the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, but that doesn't mean either lender automatically accepts your tenancy arrangements. We need to match the lease and intended move-in date to the loan requirements.

With NAB, you need to declare that you intend to move in within 6 months of settlement or, if later, the occupancy certificate. Ongoing occupation obligations also apply, with a specified Defence exemption. For an existing home, check the settlement date against the lease and lawful possession date. Our NAB home loan review covers its wider lending options.

ANZ's scheme loan is owner-occupied, with principal-and-interest repayments and generally a term of up to 30 years. You must meet ANZ's lending criteria as well as the scheme criteria. A plan to keep the property as an investment is different from buying it to move into. Read our ANZ home loan review for more on the bank.

The scheme's move-in rule does not become more flexible simply because you choose a different participating lender. The useful comparison is whether each lender accepts your disclosed plan, how it assesses your income and expenses, and which product suits you.

Don't assume the lender will count rent that stops when you move in. Standard investment rental-income percentages don't establish that temporary rent from your future home will be accepted.

We check the application on the circumstances you will live with after moving in, and ask the lender to confirm any proposed rental-income treatment. That avoids relying on an investment-loan calculation for an owner-occupied purchase.

Broker check: Want us to check the finance before you offer? Request a free assessment and have the lease, purchase price, deposit and proposed settlement date ready. We can check lender requirements while your solicitor checks the contract and tenant's rights.

Budget for your own housing, loan repayments, insurance, property management and maintenance, and keep cash aside for a delay. Agree who will manage the property and what it will cost. Don't assume the selling agent will manage it for you.

The tenant must be told the new owner's details and where to pay rent. The bond record is updated using a Change of property manager/owner form, known as Form 5. Ask who's doing it.

The RTA holds rental bonds during the tenancy. A tenant's bond isn't spare purchase money. Check how the record will be handled for the sale.

Ask for the signed tenancy agreement and renewals, entry condition report and photos, rent ledger, bond records, maintenance requests and any notices.

Check the rent ledger matches the rent adjustment at settlement. Ask how bond records and outstanding expenses will be handed over, and have your solicitor confirm what applies to your contract. Our house settlement checklist can help you track the purchase tasks alongside that handover.

Hypothetical example, not a client story: an existing home has a fixed-term lease ending on 31 August 2027. Compare the original settlement with a later date the seller might agree to. Reconfirm the scheme rules before a future purchase.

With November settlement, the lease runs past the scheme deadline. With June settlement, a proposed move-in on 7 September 2027 would fall inside six months. This only works if the tenancy lawfully ends, the tenants actually leave and the lender accepts the whole plan. The later date is an option to negotiate, not an entitlement.

For the later-settlement example, QRO’s tenant-vacate test points to 31 August 2027, because lease expiry comes before six months after settlement. The buyer’s separate one-year move-in condition and ongoing concession rules still apply. Do not add six months to the lease-end date. Have your solicitor check the actual dates and any remedies if possession is delayed.

If the plan changes to keeping it rented, talk to us about an investment property loan and what that does to your concessions before signing anything.

Put the lease end date, proposed settlement and intended move-in date on one page. Add the scheme and concession deadlines your lender and solicitor have confirmed. If those dates conflict, resolve that before making an unconditional commitment.

Allow for the cost of living elsewhere while paying the new loan. A plan that only works if the tenant leaves early needs more work, even when the deposit is enough.

Call Hunter Galloway on 1300 088 065 or request a free assessment to check the lending side of a tenanted purchase. Your solicitor needs to confirm possession and concession conditions separately.

Related guides: signed a contract of sale · 5% deposit scheme guide